PEANUTS
A Pea or a Nut?
Contrary to popular opinion, the peanut
is not really a nut such as a pecan
or a walnut. It is actually a close
relative of the black-eyed pea, a
legume. Legumes are plants in which
the roots contain nodules of nitrogen
fixing bacteria which return remarkable
amounts of nitrogen to the soil. Naturally,
the peanut is a perfect crop to rotate
in with soil depleting plants like
cotton.
Archeologists have discovered that
peanuts, native to South America,
have been used for thousands of years.
However, President Thomas Jefferson
and famous botanist George Washington
Carver played key roles in placing
the peanut firmly in the United States.
Thomas Jefferson, a botanist himself,
contributed to the peanut’s
increased popularity when he became
the first American president known
to grow peanuts. The peanut then began
its journey through America during
the Civil War where soldiers, both
Northern and Southern, subsisted on
its rich nutritional components. The
peanut was known throughout the South
as a goober pea. The word goober comes
from the Congo name for peanuts –
nguba. Slaves coming to North America
from Africa brought peanuts with them.
Carver, who many consider the father
of the peanut industry, encouraged
farmers to plant peanuts and was credited
with turning peanuts into a major
cash crop from 1900 – 1950.
Carver’s strategy for increasing
their popularity was his development
of more than 300 uses for peanuts,
including paper from peanut shells,
shaving cream, shoe polish, axel grease,
and ink.
The peanut is a delicious protein-packed
food. More than 25% of the peanut
is pure protein--a higher percentage
than the protein content of eggs,
meat, or fish. The climate, soil,
and long growing season of south Georgia
provide excellent growing conditions
for this crop.
How It Grows!
The peanut is unusual because it flowers
above the ground, but fruits below
the ground. A common misconception
about peanuts is that they grow on
trees (like walnuts or pecans) or
that they grow as part of a root,
like potatoes. Not true!
Peanut seeds (kernels) grow into a
green oval-leafed plant about 18 inches
tall which develops delicate yellow
flowers around the lower portion of
the plant. The flowers pollinate themselves
and then loose their petals as the
fertilized ovary begins to enlarge.
The budding ovary grows down away
from the plant, forming a small stem,
or “peg” which extends
into the soil. The peanut embryo is
in the tip of the peg, which penetrates
the soil. The embryo turns horizontal
to the soil surface and begins to
mature taking the form of the peanut.
From planting to harvesting, the growing
cycle takes about four to five months,
depending on the variety. Depending
on its care, one peanut plant may
produce more than 40 peanuts.
Peanut Varieties
Worldwide, the United States is surpassed
in peanut production only by China
and India. In the U.S., peanuts are
cultivated in Georgia, Alabama, Florida,
New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma,
South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.
Today nearly half of the peanut crop
in the U.S. is grown in Georgia.
The four varieties of peanuts grown
in the United States are: Runner,
Virginia, Spanish and Valencia. Each
is used for a different purpose.
Runners have become the dominate type.
A high proportion of these are used
for peanut butter. Runners grow mainly
in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Texas,
and Oklahoma.
Virginians have the larger kernels
and account for most of the peanuts
roasted and eaten from the shells.
When shelled, the larger kernels are
sold as salted peanuts. Virginians
are grown mainly in southeastern Virginia
and northeastern North Carolina.
Spanish type peanuts are used mostly
in peanut candy, salted nuts, and
peanut butter. They are also used
to make oil, because they have a higher
oil content than the other types of
peanuts. They are primarily grown
in Georgia, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Valencias, which are grown in New
Mexico, are very sweet peanuts and
are usually roasted and sold in the
shell. These peanuts are excellent
for boiling, a traditional way of
eating them in the South.
Planting and Harvesting
Methods of peanut planting and harvesting
have greatly changed over the years.
Specialized machinery now replaces
fields full of farm employees doing
the work manually. Unlike a pea, the
peanut plant produces its pods under
the ground. When mature, the plants
and their peanuts are harvested in
a series of operations.
When the plant has matured and the
peanuts are ready to be harvested,
the farmer waits until the soil is
not too wet or too dry before digging.
When conditions are right, he drives
his digger up and down the green rows
of peanuts. The digger loosens the
plant and cuts the tap root. Just
behind the blade, a shaker lifts the
plant from the soil, gently shakes
the dirt from the peanuts, rotates
the plant, and lays the plant back
down in a “windrow,” peanuts
up and leaves down.
Drying is the next important step.
When dug, peanuts contain 25 to 50%
moisture. Peanuts are generally left
in the windrows to dry for 2 or more
days in the field for the first part
of their drying process.
In the next step, called combining
the pods are removed from the vines,
cleaned, stemmed, and conveyed into
a bulk bin on the combine. The remaining
parts of the plant are returned to
the soil and later plowed under or
are baled as hay.
The last step is called curing. The
peanuts are dumped into wagons and
cured to 10% moisture with warm air
forced up through the perforated floors
of the wagons. If the peanuts are
to be used for seed, they are treated
with chemicals to prevent insects
and mold damage and then stored until
the next planting season. If they
are to be converted to oil, peanut
butter, or eaten whole, they are shelled
and processed for that product.
Peanut “roots”
in the Carter family
The popularity of and curiosity about
the peanut grew significantly during
the successful 1976 presidential campaign
that put Jimmy Carter in the White
House. The image of the peanut in
caricature was seen around the world
as a symbol of not only a president,
but also the towns of Plains. Born
in 1924, James Earl Carter, Jr. grew
up on his parents’ 360-acre
farm. In Carter’s early years,
his father began growing peanuts,
a crop that made a great impact on
his life. His family first raised
the small Spanish peanuts, which were
used as salted nuts, in candy bars,
and some varieties for hog feed. At
the age of five, Carter sold boiled
peanuts on the streets of Plains.
When Jimmy was growing up on the farm,
three acres of land produced a ton
of peanuts, generating about sixty
dollars in income, which for the time
was excellent return. During harvesting
season, every able bodied person was
needed for the peanut harvest. Of
this experience, Carter later wrote:
“The key to peanut harvest was
the threshing machine, which we called
a ‘picker’ because is
picked the nuts from the vines. It
was most often driven by a flat belt
from the rear axle or wheel of a truck,
and the dried stacks were hauled to
it on wooden sleds, each pulled by
a mule. The nuts were collected in
a basket or washtub and dumped into
a pickup truck or wagon; the nutritious
dried vines were baled for animal
feed. This was a big and important
operation, and involved all the men
on the place.”
When Earl Carter died in 1953, his
son, Jimmy, resigned from his career
in the U.S. Navy to return to Plains
to manage his father’s farm
supply business and several hundred
acres of land. Jimmy later decided
that instead of just buying and reselling
certified seed as his father had done
in his business, it would be more
profitable if he started growing the
peanut seed himself. The increased
income enabled him to expand the warehouse
operation. Carter’s Warehouse
not only included sale of certified
seed peanuts, but it also included
the service of supplying liquid nitrogen,
bulk fertilizer and lime. The warehouse
also bought corn, provided custom
grinding and mixing, and ginned cotton.
Fire and casualty insurance were also
available through the Carter agri-business.
While he serves as president, Jimmy
Carter placed the family farm supply
business into the protection of a
blind trust before he left for Washington,
D.C. in 1977. This trust allowed for
a law firm in Atlanta to take full
administration of the farm supply
business during his years in the White
House. The carters felt that relinquishing
the business to someone else’s
care would separate them from these
affairs and avoid the possibility
of their financial holdings resembling
any conflict of interest while President
Carter was in office. Their personal
counsel, Charles Kirbo of the Atlanta
law firm, was their financial trustee.
Following the election loss in 1981,
the Carters were informed by Charles
Kirbo that because of three years
of drought and several changes in
warehouse management, they were over
$1 million in debt.
As they struggled to recover from
the unexpected financial blow, the
solution to their problem became evident.
The Carters sold the family business
and also began writing books, which
helped them recover financially.
The Carters have personal land holdings
in Sumter and Webster Counties, Georgia.
In the past, these lands were used
for agriculture and timber production.
After their return from the White
House, the Carters reassessed their
land use. Expanding on their commitment
to good land stewardship, the Caters
manage their land to be economically
productive and to provide for wildlife
and recreation. Their land has also
become a certified Tree Farm. The
Carters not only set a good example,
but they also publicly share their
views on stewardship, reforestation,
conservation, and protection of the
environment.
Peanuts are still the mainstay of
economy in Plains. This town of about
700 people supports two peanut processing
warehouses and celebrates the harvest
of the peanut with a hometown celebration,
the 4th weekend in September.
Provided by the Jimmy Carter National
Historic Site |
